He is a boy that annoyed me

I was sitting down at my usual table. They’re long rectangular tables with circular seats connected to them. The tables are a light gray and the seats are black. It was early in the morning and the sky looks like a fire with a purple tint. It’s pretty warm inside as the sound of friends talking and Nintendos being played filled my ears as I smell the cafeteria food, which I’m guessing is pizza. I have on my usual sweats and my Uchiha sweater because of my having to change in Dance and P.E. My friend sits next to me and has a slight depressed look on her face. Her eyes look tired and exhausted while her lips are in a small and subtle frown. I immediately ask her if she’s alright and if there is anything I could do to help. “I just have some problems at home that I don’t know how to deal with.”, she says with a sigh. I start to think of anyway to make her feel better. Who’s someone that’s always made me feel better? Oh right my best friend Scottie; I think as I remember my 8th grade year.
I walked to the library which was closed for today. I looked inside and saw the tables, comfortable seats, magazines and shelves of books. I loved all of those not because I loved reading, but because I loved the isolation and quietness. I sighed and made my way through the halls with dull aqua blue paint on the walls and the various “inspirational” posters. I turned to the lunchroom doors which were already filled with people at the vending machines. I turned to see if I could go outside but no luck, it was a dark and cloudy sky which was not what I wanted for drawing. I pushed myself through the lunchroom doors and looked around. This was a much smaller lunchroom than what I’m used to. The air was filled with mixtures of reheated food and people who have missed a day or 2 of showers. It was crowded and the sound of annoying voices and giggling drove me insane. There were boys dressed in “swag” clothing and girls in bright, floral clothing while other girls wore too much eyeliner. I was wearing my everyday black and blue sweater with black jeans and my usual messy curly hair. I walked around a bit and found an empty, long, somewhat tannish and rectangular table. I sat down and started to get my things out for drawing. Crap, I don’t have my earphones. The one thing I would need to ignore everyone, in other words my savior in this school. I rolled my eyes and thought of my wonderful days at Glendale Middle School. I had so much fun with my friends and now I was a loner who only had a friend who ditched all the time. Why did my dad have to live next to family?! I huffed and started drawing while looking at references for eyes. The notebook paper wasn’t the best for erasing and the drawing was getting so many smudges, it started to look like Jeffina the Dalmatian with Eyeless Jackie.
“That’s a nice drawing.”, I heard a somewhat familiar voice say as I reluctantly looked up. I met eyes with a boy named…….Scottie? I think. He was a tan boy with black hair and I think brown or black eyes. He was wearing a plaid shirt with some light jeans. He had sat down next to me like a ninja because I never noticed him there. I was surprised but due to the fact I hated this place, I wanted to run away and never come back. “Thanks.” I said under my breath and turned to my frustrating drawing. I was hoping he’d get the hint and leave but I guess it’ll take a little more than a slap on the face from captain obvious. He continued the conversation I was avoiding which didn’t work with my attitude. “What’s that?”, He asked with a somewhat innocent tone and still observing my drawing. “It’s Jeff the Killer and Eyeless Jack as females”, I replied and erased another smudge. I said it quietly enough so that he could tell I didn’t want him around but I guess that slap should turn into a punch. “Oh you should draw me something.”, he answered with a happy tone. I was getting even more annoyed. My tolerance meter was a little less than full. I can imagine him being Justin Bieber at a concert and me being tied to a chair forced against my will at the very front row with backstage passes. I just glared at him subtly and turned back to my drawing. “Sure, maybe some other time”, I said convinced that I would never speak to him again. He smiled and held his hand out. “My name’s Scottie by the way.” He said cheerfully as if we were best friends already. “That’s cool” I said as I glanced at his hand and continued drawing. I was as interested as I am to watching paint dry, which in this case, it now sounds more interesting than this. “What, you aren’t going to tell me your name?”, He replied with a playful tone followed by a chuckle. Did this guy know I didn’t want him around? He’s just trying to get to me isn’t he? Oh please no..“I don’t need to.”, I said as the bell rang and I collected my stuff quickly. I left as soon as possible only yet to find out we had the same class. Well…here’s a roller coaster ride to my doom.
Scottie stuck to me like a leech after that. He was really annoying and I usually hated having him around the first couple of weeks I knew him. I started to gradually accept him as a friend and he soon became my closest friend. I never felt comfortable enough to tell him my problems but he didn’t care; He didn’t let it stop him from helping me. He always managed to make me feel happy and I wanted to do the same. He would do the most random and silliest things possible to make me feel better. He would subtly help me with my art by asking me for drawings and I would always try my best with the drawings for some reason. I only helped him with words while he helped me with kindness and other actions. I felt as though I could do better and desperately tried to catch up to him so I could make him feel happy. I never noticed the heavy burdens he carried with him which only pushed me to try even more. I gave up for awhile and gave him another burden to carry with him at the beginning of the school year; though I started to learn to forgive him and now we’re close again. He had so many problems but whenever he and I hung out, he seemed happy and so was I. He always had his doors wide open for his friendship and I wanted to shut them once.
Scottie taught me about loyalty and he taught me a lot of things about friends. Though I hate to show it, he and I are really close and I really appreciate having him by my side. I snap back to reality and look at my friend with the kindest smile I can give. “I’ll try to make you happy in any way possible” I say as I look her in the eye. She doesn’t seem convinced at first but when I invite her to Carl’s jr after school she brightens up a bit. I invite my other close friends and we play at the play place like the loons we are. She smiles a lot and her worries seem to melt away after that. I learned from my past and I hope she can one day learn what I did.

Submitted by Anonymous

Commitment